Andy went camping with 2 old friends. They decided to rough it in Illinois; Garden of the Gods, which is a gorgeous place for hiking in the Shawnee National Forest. Here he is getting all decked out.
What's a mama to do with her girls all weekend? Take them on a road trip of course! Here is Annika waiting patiently to leave on Saturday, doing her ball maze. I'm always just amazed when she'll sit still for more than 5 minutes, and this thing is genius.
First stop: Robin's baby shower. Robin and I have known each other for what seems like a million years. We went to HS together and were roommates in college for a year. She was actually my roommate the year I met Andy, and immediately liked him. She also happens to be the most adorable pregnant lady EVER, which makes me only mildly jealous.
We piled back in the car, only to realize that one of the tires was flat on my SUV. I got some help changing it, which actually killed me a little bit because I'm a seriously independent woman. I'm proud to say that at one point 6 men were watching me put the spare on though. 2.5 hours at PepBoys later, we were back on the road. All I have to say about that visit to PB was THANK GOODNESS for free WiFi & for me remembering to bring my iPad.
We spent the night at my brother and SIL's house Saturday night, and the girls actually stayed up until midnight...or at least I passed out then and they were still awake. Cousin time is awesome, but morning comes really early for girls who stay up that late. C'est la Vie!
The next morning we drove to Fishers to catch up with my BFF from HS and her brood of 4 kids. It was a really short visit, but soo awesome to finally see her and her family after more than 5 years of phone calls alone. Is there anything better than catching up with old friends? I think not! Here we are together:
The final leg of our girls' weekend was taking my mother to see this years Listen to Your Mother show in Indianapolis. The show was amazing. We started crying almost immediately and laughed enough to make my belly sore the next day. Here I am after the show with my fellow cast-mates from last year.
After the show, we drove back to relieve my SIL who had been watching the 4 girls (2 hers, 2 mine) so I could take my mom to the show. We said our goodbyes and drove back to Evansville just in time for baths and bedtime.
This past weekend was epic, and I LOVED it. All the things I got to do would not have been on Andy's list of things he ever would want to do, so it was great that he was off having his kind of fun with the boys. Waves of appreciation washed over me as I drove home: appreciation for old friends, appreciation for family, appreciation for the ability to travel, appreciation for fast food, appreciation for girls who seriously behaved themselves VERY well, and appreciation for having such a great life. This is one weekend I won't soon forget!
